Russo Gives Insight Into COVID-19 Vaccine

Updated December 14, 2020

Pfizer and Moderna have reported separate vaccine candidates that are more than 90 percent effective at preventing COVID-19 infection in people who participated in phase 3 clinical trials. Pfizer’s vaccine is now being shipped to locations across the country. First rounds of the vaccine will be distributed by the end of the year, says Thomas A. Russo, MD, professor of medicine and chief of the Division of Infectious Diseases. For now, public health officials are still sorting through the details of administering vaccinations, but they are moving quickly as cases continue to surge in the U.S. “By March and April there will be more widespread availability. At least, that’s what I hope,” says Russo. “But I’m an optimist.”